Hosted by HPSG 2005, the 12th International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar

Motivation:

Anaphoric binding principles, which capture constraints on the relative positioning of anaphors and their antecedents in grammatical geometry, have been a central topic in the research on the grammar of natural languages: Their modular nature is evidenced by the non trivial symmetries holding among them, and their empirical plausibility is supported by the repeated observation of their occurrence across languages.

While these constraints have been instrumental in the research of other linguistic phenomena and constructions as one of the most reliable diagnoses for grammatical structure and relations, the interest around binding theory itself has continuously expanded, to a considerable extent also due to recent results from psycholinguistics and from new research methodologies such as neuro-imaging. This has led to a vast array of exciting results and research issues, of which the following are just some examples:

-What clarification can be obtained when binding constraints are put into perspective with respect to discourse structure? -What is their proper locus (syntax, semantics, ...) in the architecture of grammar? -What is intrinsic to binding constraints and what should be factored out as (sub-)regularities possibly due to other grammatical modules and phenomena? - What is the best definition of auxiliary notions (command, domain, ...) in view of increased empirical adequacy? - Are there languages of the world whose anaphors comply with yet to uncover binding principles? -What cross-linguistic generalizations, i.e., invariants, hold in anaphoric binding? - How to accommodate binding theory in current formal grammatical frameworks and how this may contribute to determine their appropriate shape? - How to enforce the satisfaction of binding constraints by grammatical representations and what is the most efficient algorithm to do this? - What is the root of the intriguing symmetries across binding principles and of their prominent modular nature? - What are their cognitive underpinnings and how do these relate to anaphora processing and resolution?

The aim of this workshop is to provide participants with a forum where their research on binding benefits from insightful discussion and from the exchange of leading edge results on issues closely related to their work. We thus invite the submission of papers contributing innovative approaches, solutions, data or results on all aspects of binding theory.

WORKSHOP ON BINDING THEORY AND INVARIANTS IN ANAPHORIC RELATIONS http://bindingwksp.di.fc.ul.pt/ University of Lisbon, 2005, August 22 hosted by the HPSG'2005 conference

-Deadline for early registration: June 30, 2005-

Preliminary Program

9.00 Welcome

9.15: The Interaction between Syntactic and Semantic Conditions on Reflexive Binding in Norwegian: Some Formal Consequences Lars Hellan (NTNU, Norway)